System and method for a multi-channel notification service

ABSTRACT

A system and method for multichannel notifications that includes configuring an account for notifications within a multitenant platform for multi-channel notifications, which further includes receiving configuration for a set of participant binding resources, wherein the set of participant binding resources comprises endpoint addressing resources, where an endpoint addressing resource specifies a communication address and a communication channel identifier; receiving a notification request on behalf of an account, the notification request comprising at least one targeting property; and executing notifications in accordance to the notification request and the configuration of the participant binding resources of the account by selecting endpoint addressing resources that are accessed from the participant binding resources using the targeting properties of the notification request and transmitting notifications to communication addresses over a set of different communication channels as indicated by the selected endpoint addressing resources.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/340,151, filed on 23 May 2016, which is incorporated in its entiretyby this reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to the communication field, and morespecifically to a new and useful system and method for a multi-channelnotification service in the communication field.

BACKGROUND

Today's digital services have grown beyond standalone web or mobileapplications. Users expect an application or service to be accessible onany device (e.g., in the browser on the desktop or in an app on a smartphone). Increasingly, users expect to have the state on those devices tobe synchronized, providing a seamless multi-channel experience.Additionally, with many services being social, actions can occur beyonda user's own actions, and a user may want to be notified of thosechanges. Various forms of notifications are used to alert a user of newinformation or events. However, building out useful notifications can bechallenging and time consuming. Additionally, as a digital servicediversifies its user base, the various user preferences and devicevariations present substantial challenges. Any digital service thatwants to implement a world-class user experience for a multi-platformsystem, extensive investment is required in notifications. Thus, thereis a need in the communication field to create a new and useful systemand method for a multi-channel notification service. This inventionprovides such a new and useful system and method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a method of a preferredembodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of instantiating channelcredentials;

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of configuring endpoint addressingresources;

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of configuring participantresources;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary communication flow diagram of a method of apreferred embodiment; and

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram representation of a system of a preferredembodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following description of preferred embodiments of the invention isnot intended to limit the invention to these preferred embodiments, butrather to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use thisinvention.

1. Overview

The system and method for a multi-channel notification service functionsto provide a service enabling a streamlined approach to enablingnotification features within a digital service or application. Thesystem and method enable configuration of a notification service for anaccount such that audience selection, multi-channel notifications,orchestrated notifications rules and execution, and/or other featurescan be reduced to a programmatic notification request. Preferably, thesystem and method can enable notifications that can be sent out acrossdifferent communication channels. Those communication channels couldinclude SMS, MMS, an application push notification channel, a thirdparty communication channel (e.g., a social network messaging service),email, browser or operating notification, a device endpoint, and/or anysuitable channel.

Notifications can be any suitable communication used to alert a user.The notification is generally a one-way communication. Though somenotifications may allow full or partial two-way communication. Forexample, a notification may be marked as delivered and/or seen as a formof partial two-way communication. Similarly, some notificationcommunication channels may allow a response action or reply by a user.The system and method can be used as a mechanism for transactionalnotifications (i.e., notifications targeted at one or a select set ofusers relating to some individual event like a purchase or login event)and/or bulk notifications (i.e., notifications broadcast to groups ofusers).

The system and method are preferably implemented through a multitenantservice platform. The multitenant service platform can enable multipledistinct accounts, sub-accounts or other entities to utilize theplatform to enable notification features for their own distinctapplication or service offering. The multitenant service platform mayoperate as a platform as a service or software as a service typeoperation. The system and method preferably offer a set of mechanismsand processes through which users can more easily enable and controlnotifications. Additionally, with the engineering work centralized to afocused platform, multiple parties may benefit from improved and updateddesign of the platform. A developer could avoid developing custominfrastructure for communicating over multiple notification channels aswell as avoiding maintaining and updating these channel integrations asthey change.

As a first potential benefit, the system and method can offer a unifiedand normalized interface for using one or more notification channels. Anoutside service or product that wants to enable notification featurescan leverage one notification service instead of building out multiplecommunication channel integrations. For example, a developer could use anotification platform implementing the system and method in enablingnotifications across a wide variety of formats, but while also using asimple intuitive programmatic interface for specifying notificationcontent details.

As a second potential benefit, the system and method can enableconfigurable orchestration, where complex routing and fallback optionscan be simply configured ahead of time as default behavior for anaccount or on-demand for a particular notification request.Orchestration rules can be used to deliver to devices preferred by aparticular participant, to fallback to secondary notification endpointsduring failure, to fan out notifications across all notificationchannels, to automatically restrict notification delivery to particulartime windows, and/or to apply other suitable orchestration rules. Theseorchestration options can be selectively invoked based on eachparticular notification and/or configuration of an account ornotification service.

As a third potential benefit, the system and method may enablehierarchical notification definitions wherein a single notificationrequest may enable notifications to be sent across multiple channels andbe customized for a subset of those channels. Different notificationchannels will have different capabilities. For example, SMS may onlyallows for text while another channel may enable structured templates todefine a custom interactive notification to be delivered within anotification channel. A notification can be simply delivered to multiplechannels while custom features of particular notification channels maybe leveraged.

As a fourth potential benefit, the system and method can enablecustomizing the notification experience for each participant.Participants will have varying preferences for how and when they arenotified. In some cases, a participant may be accessible throughmultiple channels. For example, one user may want to receive SMSmessages and not push notifications. And one user may want pushnotifications. The system and method could facilitate managingparticipant preferences.

The system and method can be utilized in a variety of use cases. Anyapplication or digital service that needs to alert a user or device ofsome information may utilize the system and method. As one example, adigital marketplace may want to alert all buyers when a new relevantitem becomes available or its price drops. As another example, on-demanddispatching applications may need to alert available “workers” (e.g.,call-center agents, drivers, contractors, etc.) of a new “request”(e.g., a support ticket, passenger, job, etc.). Yet another example,news and content apps may want to notify users about new content.

2. Method for a Multi-Channel Notification Service

As shown in FIG. 1, a method for multi-channel notification service of apreferred embodiment can include configuring an account fornotifications within a multitenant platform for multi-channelnotifications S100, receiving a notification request on behalf of anaccount S200, and executing a notification according to the notificationrequest and the configuration S300. The method is preferably implementedwithin a multitenant platform, but may alternatively be implemented byany suitable system.

The method functions to provide a service enabling a streamlinedapproach to enabling notification features within a digital service orapplication. The method can be used for facilitating notificationsthrough any suitable set of communication channels. Preferably, thecommunication channels include SMS/MMS and at least a push communicationchannel (e.g., the Apple push network or the Google cloud messaging).Other potential communication channels can be asynchronous messagingchannels such as proprietary messaging services with accessible APIs. Aproprietary messaging service may enable notifications to a user withinan application or a service. In another variation, the proprietarymessaging service directs notifications to a device endpoint such as awearable computer, an IoT device, a home or office digital assistant,and/or any suitable device. Other notification or communication channelsmay alternatively or additionally be used.

Block S100, which includes configuring an account for notificationswithin a multitenant platform for multi-channel notifications, functionsto setup how notifications will be managed and executed within thesystem. A multitenant platform preferably supports configuring a set ofdifferent notification scopes. For example, an account that wants to usenotifications can configure their account for notifications. An accountmay additionally setup multiple instances of notification configuration.Herein we describe the configuration and management of the notificationbeing associated with an account. However, notification configurationmay alternatively be associated with any suitable entity or scope suchas a subaccount.

Configuring the account for notifications can involve configuring thedifferent communication channels and the various participants to beaccessed during a notification. This preemptive configuration can makesubsequent notification requests simpler to implement. The configurationcan preferably be characterized and architected through a set ofdifferent resources. The resources can be API resources, data objectclasses, data model architecture, or any suitable data object. Whilethere may be a variety of ways of receiving and setting configuration,the multitenant platform preferably enables at least one programmaticinterface and more preferably a REST API.

In particular, configuring the account for notifications can includereceiving configuration for at least one notification service resourceS110 and receiving configuration for a set of participant bindingresources S120.

Block S110, which includes receiving configuration for at least onenotification service, functions to define the various communicationchannels used for notification. A notification service can be referencedwhen making a notification request, which will cause the configurationof the notification service resource to be utilized in executing thecorresponding notification.

Configuring a communication channel can include instantiating channelcredentials of a communication channel for a notification service S112as shown in FIG. 2. A notification service resource can include variousproperties such as identifying information (e.g., a unique ID and/or afriendly name) and credentials for a set of communication channels. Theidentifying information can be used for referencing or identifying thenotification service. The credentials for a communication channel caninclude the authentication information and/or any suitable configurationinformation needed for using a particular communication channel. For aproprietary communication channel this may include setting APIcredentials and/or certificates. For example, a secure identifier codemay be specified and used in the platform interfacing with theproprietary communication channel on behalf of the account holder. Otheroptions such as a protocol version identifier, and/or other options mayadditionally be supplied. For example, Apple Push Network and the GoogleCloud Messaging may include a secure identifier credential and aprotocol version property. A third party social network (such asFacebook) may include a secure identifier credential, a social networkpage identifier, and/or any suitable property. The communication channelcredentials are preferably those associated with the account owner. Forexample, a business will use a multitenant platform account to createthe notification service and will setup their credentials from anoutside notification service such that the multitenant platform can acton behalf of the account owner with the outside notification service.

With regard to telephony communication channels such as SMS, MMS, and/orPSTN calls, a telephony endpoint (e.g., a phone number, short code, tollfree number) can be registered and identified for use with thenotification service. Configuring a communication channel canadditionally or alternatively include registering and identifying acommunication endpoint for use with the notification service. An accountmay have one or more communication endpoints configured for particularcommunication channels. For example, an account could have one phonenumber or a pool of phone numbers, which could be used for SMS messages,MMS messages, or phone calls. As another example, an account could havea SIP address or other credentials setup. A communication endpoint canbe a phone number, a short code, toll number, a SIP address, and/or anysuitable communication endpoint identifier used for routingcommunication within a communication network. In one implementation, anaccount holder can purchase and set up multiple telephony endpoints tobe managed and/or used by the account holder within the communicationplatform. When setting up a notification service, one or multipletelephony endpoints operated by the account holder could be selected foruse with the notification service. In an alternative implementation, thecommunication platform can have a pool of telephony endpoints that maybe shared by account holders, in which case there may be no explicitidentification of which telephony endpoint is used as that would beautomatically selected by the communication platform.

The notification service is scoped to the account, and an account couldcreate and manage a set of different notification services. The set ofnotification service resources could be queried at any suitable timethrough the API or an alternative interface. This may be particularlyapplicable in a multitenant communication platform that enables nestedaccount scopes where one account scope can create a subaccount, whereineach account could build an application that enables a multitenantapplication or service. Multiple notification services can be operatedwithin an account but individually managed within subaccounts of theparent account. Multiple notification services within an account canadditionally be used so that one account can be used to manage differentapplications, services, or products of the account holder. For example,an account holder with multiple products may instantiate multiplenotification services with different configuration, where eachnotification service is used in servicing each individual product.

Block S120, which includes receiving configuration for a set ofparticipant binding resources, functions to set the addressinginformation for participants for one or more communication channels. Theparticipant binding resources preferably establishes data/modelingrecords that can be used in executing a notification request.Preferably, destination endpoints or addressing information isestablished through the participant binding resources. Generally,speaking the participant binding resources can be updated and maintainedby an account holder. For example, existing addressing information canbe used in creating a number of participant binding resources, and thenadd or modify the addressing information as the account holder receivesupdates. Preferably, the endpoint addressing information such as phonenumbers, email addresses, or other communication addresses areexplicitly specified in the participant binding resources.Alternatively, the endpoint addresses may be stored and maintainedoutside the communication platform and are referenced at the time ofsending a notification, which may be useful if an account does not wantto entrust a third party like the communication platform with addressinginformation. Both approaches could be used in combination.

Various architectures of participant binding resources may be used whereinformation and information associations can be structured in differentways. The participant binding resources can in some architecturesinclude properties that relate to an account reference, a servicereference, communication channel identifying properties, a communicationaddress identifier, a participant identifier, and/or other addressingproperties. The various participant binding resources can be directlyassociated with one notification service resource. Deleting anotification service resource can result in deleting associated bindingresources.

In a first variation, receiving configuration for a set of participantbinding resources comprises receiving configuration of endpointaddressing resources S122 as shown in FIG. 3. The endpoint addressingresources (i.e., endpoint bindings) function to establish communicationaddressing information that can be used as destinations ofnotifications. An endpoint addressing resources is preferably associatedwith at least one notification service resource of an account, eitherexplicitly or implicitly. An endpoint addressing resource preferablyincludes a communication address and a communication channel identifier.The communication address can be specific to the channel, and similarlythe format can vary for different channels. The address property can bea token, a phone number, a username, email address, and/or any suitableaddress. Additionally, an endpoint instance identifier can be used todistinguish a particular application installation from other applicationinstallations. For example, a user of a messaging application may havemultiple devices where the same username is used as the communicationaddress. An endpoint instance identifier can be used to distinguishbetween those different application installations. In one variation, theendpoint instance identifiers can be generated on the device and used insetting the endpoint instance identifier.

The communication channel identifier can identify the type ofcommunication channel to be used and may additionally include a protocolversion number and/or any suitable information. For example,communication channel identifier options can include “SMS”, “PSTN”,“Company X messenger service”, “Company Y push notification service”,and the like. The endpoint addressing resource can additionally includecommunication channel credentials. The communication channel credentialsmay be used to override default channel credentials.

Additionally, the participant binding resources and more specificallythe endpoint addressing resources can be assigned tag properties tofacilitate convenient references to the resource. The tags can be stringbased labels or other identifiers, which may be used for bulk operationswith the bindings. The tags can be account/developer defined. The tagscan be specified during creation of the endpoint addressing resource,but could additionally be updated after the creation of the endpointaddressing resource. Additionally, a set of tags may be automaticallyassigned to a binding based on properties of the participant bindingresource. For example, automatic tags can include “all” to reference allbindings), “apn” to reference Apple push network bindings, “gcm” toreference Google cloud messaging bindings, “sms” to reference atelephony binding, “facebook-messenger” to reference Facebook messengerchannel bindings, and/or any suitable automatic tags. Similarly,analysis of the endpoint address can be used to generate tags. Forexample, a phone number could be analyzed and geographic associations ofthat phone number could be used as tags. For example, the associatedcountry from the country code, region from an area code, phone type(land line vs. mobile), and/or other extracted information can be usedas tags.

Endpoint addressing resources can additionally include a participantidentifier. The participant identifier can be an account definedidentifier for a participant such as a unique user identifier string oran email address. The participant identifier functions as a convenienceproperty for optionally specifying notification destinations byparticipant identifiers instead of endpoint addresses. However, apreferred variation is to include distinct participant resources thatcan be associated with the endpoint addressing resources to betterreflect how a participant may have multiple usable endpoint addresses.

In another variation, receiving configuration for a set of participantbinding resources comprises receiving configuration of endpointaddressing resources S122 and receiving configuration for participantresources S124 as shown in FIG. 4. A participant resource can beassociated with a subset of the endpoint addressing resources, and anumber of participant resources can have individual associations withdistinct sets of endpoint addressing resources. The participant resourcefunctions as a higher level abstraction of the communication destinationthat focuses on the end user. The participant resource can enable adeveloper to group endpoint addressing resources that belong to the sameparticipant. In this way, notification destinations can be specified byparticipant instead of a communication address. Associating endpointaddressing resources with a participant can be used to enable preferreddevice selection for a participant, for fanning out a notification toall possible communication endpoints of a participant, to docommunication address fall over where a backup destination can be usedif an initial one fails, and/or other suitable notificationorchestrations.

Additionally, an additional grouping construct can be offered so thatparticipants can be associated with participant groups or segments. Inone variation, a participant group can be another type of participantbinding resource that can have associations with many participantresources and, by extension, multiple communication addresses. Inanother variation, participant resources can include a tag property. Aparticipant grouping may be used to specify participant classifications.For example, an account holder may create participant group resourcesfor different user tiers (e.g., premium, free, etc.) so that thosedifferent groups of users can be notified as a group. The participantgroups can be any suitable subsets of the participants. For example, twoparticipant groups can include participant resources that are associatedwith both participant groups.

Generally, a notification service resource will be initially configured,and participant binding resources will subsequently be created as endusers of the account are enrolled as shown in FIG. 5. For example, adigital service will want to use the multitenant platform to facilitatenotifications for the digital service. The digital service will create anotification service within the platform. Within the digital service,users will join the digital service or register for receivingnotifications from the digital service. One user may install an iOSapplication of the digital service and select to enable pushnotifications—participant binding resources for that applicationinstance within the apple push network will be created. The participantbinding resources would include endpoint addressing resource thatcharacterizes the addressing information to that iOS applicationinstance, and the participant binding resources could optionally includea participant resource for that user which would have an associationwith the endpoint addressing resource. Another user may select apreference to receive notifications over SMS—participant bindingresource will be created for that user to that SMS address (e.g., aphone number).

Block S200, which includes receiving a notification request on behalf ofan account, functions to initiate sending of one or more notifications.The notification request can be used to deliver a specific notificationto a targeted participant or group of participants. For example, a taxiapplication may want to notify a customer that their taxi has arrived,and notification can be sent to just that participant by specifying thenotification content and the identify of participant. The configurationof Block S100 can be used to deliver the notification appropriately. Thenotification request can similarly send notifications to multipletargeted participants. In other scenarios, a digital service may want tofan out a general notification to a wide audience. In this notification,tags can be utilized to specify particular endpoints without explicitlyproviding a list of each endpoint at the time of the notification.

In different instances, different notification requests can be receivedand executed through blocks S200 and S300 where each is individuallyprocessed. In one instance, a notification request can broadcastnotifications to a group of participants. In another instance adifferent notification request can send a transactional notification toone or a limited set of participants. In another instance, anotification request can be processed so that notifications use afallback option. The various features implemented in the method can beselectively invoked in different notification requests.

A notification request can be received through an API request. Forexample, an HTTP-based POST request can be received with a set ofrequest properties defining how a notification should be sent. Anotification request may alternatively be specified within a script orapplication that is processed within the platform. In yet anothervariation, a user interface or dashboard may be presented to enable anadministrator of the account to manually specify and send outnotifications through a dashboard or an alternative user interface.

A notification request preferably specifies a notification service,targeting property, and payload definition. The notification request canadditionally include delivery options or authenticating or scopeidentifying information such as an account secure identifier. Thenotification service identifier is used to map the notification toconfiguration. In some variations the notification service identifier isnot needed as the notification service and its configuration is directlyassociated with the account.

The targeting property can be specified in a variety of approaches. In afirst approach, the targeting property includes a set of endpoints, setof participant identifiers, participant group identifier, and/or tags.An endpoint can be used to send to a particular device instance of aparticipant as specified by an endpoint addressing resource. Aparticipant identifier may be used to send a notification to one or moreendpoints associated with the participant as specified by a participantresource. A participant group identifier may be used to send anotification to one or more endpoints of participants associated withthe group. Tags can be used to send to endpoints associated with thetags. In one variation, the targeting property can be conditional sothat all their properties must be matched. Different logical rules maybe used in processing how multiple targeting properties are handled. Inone implementation, the notifications can be sent to the union ofendpoints defined by all the targeting properties. For example,targeting properties may specify identifiers for a set of endpointaddressing resources and also a number of tags, and all endpoints thatmatch the set of endpoints or any of the tags may be notified. Inanother implementation, notifications can be sent to the overlap ofendpoints defined by all the targeting properties. In a similar exampleto above, targeting properties may specify identifiers for a set ofendpoint addressing resources and also a number of tags, and then only asubset of the identified endpoints that also share the identified tagsare notified. In yet another implementation, notifications can be sentto endpoints based on some prioritized analysis of the targetingproperties. However, any suitable logical processing of multipletargeting properties may be used.

In one variation, the targeting property may additionally oralternatively reference an external resource, wherein targeting propertycan be accessed from a remote server at the time of the processing ofthe notification request. The external resource can be a specified URIthat preferably hosts a resource that can provide endpoint addressinginformation in place of or to supplement the endpoint addressingresources. For example, one targeting property can be an endpointcallback URI. When processing a notification request with an endpointcallback URI an application layer request (e.g., an HTTP/S request) istransmitted the callback URI. The server responsive to that request canprovide a static document or generate a document that will specifyaddressing endpoints and relevant information like communication channelidentifier and credentials as in an endpoint addressing resource.Authentication and/or whitelisting of the IP address used by thecommunication platform can be used when communicating with the externalresource to secure the list of targeting property. This variation canenable an account holder to avoid storing targeting property permanentlywith the communication platform.

The notification request can additionally include delivery optionproperties such as a priority property, a time-to-delivery property, amaximum delivery cost, a preferred device option, a fallback option, afan out option and/or other transmission options. The delivery optionproperties can be used to specify different notification orchestrationsor approaches to managing notifications. In some cases, the deliveryoption properties will only impact the notification delivery andhandling for a subset of communication channels.

The priority property may be recognized by different communicationchannels to prioritize the delivery of the notification. For example,some push notification channels may have high and low priority optionswhich change how notifications are delivered in consideration of batteryconsumption of the device. The priority property can additionally beused within the communication platform for how it handles delivery ofnotifications across the account and/or platform. In one example, lowpriority may be accompanied with an unspecified delivery time while ahigh priority may have an expected delivery time window (e.g.,immediate, in next 5 minutes, etc.).

The time-to-live property specifies how long the notification request isvalid within the platform. The time-to-live property is preferably aspecified length of time. A countdown clock will be initializedsynchronized to the receipt of the notification request when atime-to-live property is present. After the time specified in thetime-to-live property expires, any unsent notifications are canceled.This may be applicable for notifications that are only relevant for acertain amount of time.

A maximum delivery cost will limit the per notification or total amountto be spent fulfilling the notification request. As there may be a costassociated with transmitting the notifications through the multitenantplatform, a maximum delivery cost can prevent a notification requestfrom going above expectations. This can be particularly useful whensending notifications across multiple communication channels. The methodabstracts away the end communication channel but there will be somefinancial impact to sending notifications based on the distribution ofendpoint addressing resources associated with metered and/or billedcommunication channels like SMS or MMS. In some variations, the maximumdelivery cost can be specified individually for specific communicationchannels. Processing of a maximum delivery cost property can be used incombination with a fallback option or other orchestration options. Inone variation, once the maximum delivery cost limit is met thennotifications can proceed for participants that have available freecommunication channels. For example, a notification may be initiallyintended to be sent over SMS for one participant but after the price forthat notification is surpassed, the notification will be sent over asocial media communication channel to that participant.

A preferred device option will facilitate selection of an endpointaddressing resource to be used for a targeted participant when multipleoptions are available. The preferred device option may be a Booleanvalue to activate preferred device delivery of notifications. Thepreferred communication channel and/or device instance (in the casewhere there may be multiple application instances of the samecommunication channel) can be indicated through tagging of an endpointaddressing resource. For example, in the creation of an endpointaddressing resource a preference tag (e.g., the tag string “preferreddevice”) can be added. Then when preferred device option is activated ina notification request that endpoint addressing resource will beselected for sending that notification over other participant associatedendpoint addressing resources.

In another variation, the preference or priority of differentcommunication channels can be specified within the notification requestor the notification service. These can act as defaults for thatnotification or account. For example, one account may set their defaultpriority to SMS then voice then a social media messaging channel, butanother account may set their default priority to a social mediamessaging channel, then email, and then SMS.

A fallback option can be a delivery that enables a backup endpointaddressing resource to be used as a delivery target when delivery isunsuccessful for an attempted notification to an initially used endpointaddressing resource. The fallback option can be a Boolean option thatcan be enabled for notifications over supported communication channels.Supported communication channels preferably have a delivery confirmationmechanism. The delivery confirmation can provide delivery confirmation(e.g., send successfully) and/or read confirmation (e.g., viewed byuser). Unsuccessful confirmation can trigger a subsequent notificationusing a different approach. Success and failure can be defined indifferent ways. In one implementation this can be a time window wheresome confirmation must be satisfied. In another implementation it may bethe receipt of some error status like delivery failure. The failurecondition may be defined or specified in the notification request orwithin the notification service configuration. In one example, anotification may first be attempted over a push notification network fora participant and then an SMS can be used for notification if deliveryis unsuccessful after ten minutes.

A fan out option can be a delivery option that enables notifications tobe sent out to all endpoint addresses of a participant. A fan out optionmay be invoked in a notification request if the account holder wants toincrease likelihood that end participants receive the notifications.This may be used in cases, where an important alert is being sent outand the account holder prioritizes participants getting the notificationover receiving redundant notifications across different communicationchannels and/or devices.

The payload properties of the notification request preferably definesthe content of the notification to be communicated to the end user ofthe target endpoint. The payload properties preferably include a bodysuch as a text string. The payload properties can additionally include atitle property, a media property, a sound property, an action property(e.g., actions to be displayed for the notification), data property,and/or other suitable properties. The notification request canadditionally include a hierarchical definition of the notification andin particular the payload properties. Hierarchical definitions allowgeneral default payload properties to be specified, but for customizednotifications to be defined for particular communication channels so asto override corresponding payload defaults. Channel-specific payloadproperties can be defined for one or more communication channels. Thechannel specific payload properties may support channel specificfeatures and/or capabilities. Support for channel specific payloadproperties can enable custom features of a communication channel to beused through the communication platform even when sending notificationsacross multiple communication channels.

Block S300, which includes executing a notification according to thenotification request and the configuration, functions to attempt totransmit notifications. Initially the notification request can beprocessed and validated. For example, the notification can be validatedas being authentically associated with an account. Additionally anyrequired properties can be validated. Executing notifications caninclude selecting endpoint addressing resources that are accessed fromthe participant binding resources using the targeting properties of thenotification request and transmitting notifications to communicationaddresses over a set of different communication channels as indicated bythe selected endpoint addressing resource. The transmission or attemptedsending of notifications is preferably executed by, for each selectedendpoint addressing resource, transmitting a notification to thespecified communication address of the endpoint addressing resourcethrough a communication channel that is specified by the communicationchannel identifier of the endpoint addressing resource.

The different communication channels can include different formats andcommunication mediums. In one variation, transmitting notifications overa set of different communication channels can include transmitting anasynchronous message to a communication address specified by a selectedendpoint addressing resource. In another variation, transmittingnotifications over a set of different communication channels can includetransmitting initializing a synchronous communication stream and playinga message for at least one communication address.

If the notification request is valid, then the referenced participantbinding resources and configuration are selected, accessed, and used inexecuting the notification to one or more destinations. The participantbinding resources that are accessed are those referenced in thetargeting properties of a notification request. The endpointidentifiers, participant identifiers, participant group identifiers,tags, and/or other properties may be used to specify the destinationendpoints. These are used to identify and select endpoint addressingresources. As described above, various approaches may be used inaccessing the referenced endpoint addressing resources. In some cases,the delivery options specified for a notification or account canadditionally be used in selecting the appropriate endpoint addressingresources. For each of the accessed endpoint addressing resource anotification can be attempted. Preferably, a selected endpointaddressing resource will indicate the communication channel andaddressing information within the communication channel, and thenotification service can include the channel credentials and generalinformation to deliver a notification.

In the instance variation where a notification request includes apreferred device option, executing the notifications can includeselecting an endpoint addressing resource that is associated with aparticipant resource and indicated as a preferred device. Indication ofa preferred device can be through a special tag that can be applied toan endpoint addressing resource. Alternatively preferred device may bean internally applied tag through analysis and usage history ofendpoints of a participant.

In the instance variation where a notification request includes a fanoutdelivery option, the selection of appropriate endpoint addressingresources will involve selecting all endpoint addressing resourcesassociated by the targeted/specified participant resources.

Executing a notification can additionally include generating thenotification content, which functions to determine the payload of atransmitted notification. As mentioned above, the payload properties canbe defined hierarchically. The payload properties for notification sentover a specific communication channel can include using the defaultpayload properties unless additional or overriding payload propertiesare specified for that communication channel. A customized notificationpayload can be generated for each communication channel that will beused for a given notification. Finally, a notification request issubmitted or transmitted over the appropriate communication channel.Each communication channel may have varying protocols and/or technologyto issue a communication. Additionally, transmission of notificationscan be independently managed for different communication channels, whichcan enable rate limiting, volume limits, and independent metering ofnotifications over different channels. The multitenant platform can hidethese complexities from the account holder (e.g., the developer).

In the instance where the notification request includes a tagidentifier, selecting an endpoint addressing resources that are accessedfrom the participant binding resources using the targeting properties ofthe notification request can include selecting endpoint addressingresources queried with the tag targeting property of the endpointaddressing resources. The tag identifier is used to access the endpointaddressing resources with that tag property. In some cases, that tagproperty may have been automatically generated. Multiple tag identifierscould be indicated in the notification request. Using AND Booleanlogic/intersection logic, the selected endpoint addressing resources mayhave tag properties that include each tag identifier. Using OR Booleanlogic/union logic, the selected endpoint addressing resources may haveat least one tag property matching one of the tag identifiers.

In another instance, the notification request can include a tagidentifier and a participant group identifier. In this variation, theparticipant binding resources includes participant resources associatedwith a participant group (e.g., as a group resource or having a grouplabel/tag). In this instance, selecting endpoint addressing resourcescan include selecting endpoint addressing resources according to theparticipant group identifiers and tag identifiers. Similar with the tagsabove, the group identifiers and tag identifiers can be used with unionor intersection type selection logic.

In the instance variation where a notification request includes apriority option, then notifications can be executed as a prioritizednotification when supported by a communication channel. In thisinstance, at least one endpoint addressing resource includes a tagproperty identifying the endpoint addressing resource as preferred.Preferably only one endpoint addressing resource can be tagged orindicated as preferred. Alternatively, multiple endpoint addressingresources can be tagged or indicated as preferred in which case multiplepreferred devices can be notified. The notification request will includesome targeting property such as a participant group identifier, a tagidentifier, and/or a participant identifier. During priority option,selecting endpoint addressing resources that are accessed from theparticipant binding resources using the targeting properties of thenotification request will include selecting an endpoint addressingresource that is associated with the participant resource and identifiedas preferred. In this way a participant's preferred communicationaddress and/or application instance can be notified.

In the instance variation where a notification request includes adelivery cost property, transmitting a notification can include trackingmetered cost of transmitted notifications associated with thenotification request and alerting notification transmissions when themetered cost satisfies the delivery cost property. Altering notificationtransmissions can include canceling notification transmissions oraltering communication channel. Altering of communication channelpreferably includes selecting a fallback or alternative endpointaddressing resource of a participant resource when a communicationchannel of an initial endpoint addressing resource has surpassed amaximum delivery cost for the notification.

In some variations, executing a notification can include receiving anotification response and parsing the notification response. Somecommunication channels can support replies or actions that respond to anotification. The communication platform can facilitate receiving andprocessing those responses. In one variation, the method can includeupdating notification state in association with a notification record.In another variation, the response can be relayed to an externalapplication service specified by a response callback URI.

In one implementation, a delivery response can be facilitated byproviding a notification SDK that can be integrated into an application.At an instance of an application with a notification SDK integration,detecting notification and delivering notification receipt state to thecommunication platform. This can include updating delivery status, readstatus, response status, and/or any suitable information. Thisimplementation may be useful when delivery status information is notavailable. Some communication channels may provide built-in support fordelivery status updates.

In the instance variation where a notification request includes afallback option, executing a notification can include, collectingdelivery status of an initially executed notification, and in responseto the delivery status, selecting a secondary endpoint addressingresource of a participant and transmitting at least a secondnotification using the secondary endpoint addressing resource. This caninclude generating a new notification payload that is appropriate to theupdated communication channel. The delivery status can be detection of adelivery or read receipt within a time window, receipt of a deliveryerror, or any suitable condition.

3. System for a Multi-Channel Notification Service

As shown in FIG. 6, a system for multi-channel notification service of apreferred embodiment can include a multitenant communication platform100 and an interface 110 to a set of notification programmaticprimitives. The system is preferably operated so as to perform themethod above, but may additionally or alternatively facilitate otheroperations. The system functions to provide a service with a streamlinedapproach for enabling notification features within a digital service orapplication. The system can be used for facilitating notificationsthrough any suitable set of communication channels. Preferably, thecommunication channels include SMS/MMS and at least a push communicationchannel (e.g., the Apple push network or the Google cloud messaging).Other notification or communication channels may alternatively oradditionally be used.

The multitenant communication platform 100 preferably allows multipleaccounts to use the communication platform in facilitating variouscommunication tasks that include at least notifications. Additionally,each account within the multitenant communication platform 100 mayitself have a subaccount. Accordingly, an account may support multiplecommunications for different sub-account holders wherein communication,data/analytics, billing, and/or other aspects can be scoped to anaccount, a sub-account, or any suitable scope. The communicationplatform can additionally be a cloud-hosted platform. The communicationplatform can be a server, a server cluster, a collection of componentson a distributed computing system, or any suitable network accessiblecomputing infrastructure.

The interface 110 to a set of notification programmatic primitivesfunctions to enable account holders or other entities to configure andexecute notifications. The interface preferably includes a programmaticinterface, but may alternatively include a user interface. The userinterface can be an application or dashboard used in manual executionand configuration of notifications. The programmatic interface functionsto enable integration and use of the notification service to be added toa third party service or application. The complexities of managingnotifications are delegated to the system. The developers of the thirdparty applications or services can focus on the core aspects of theirproduct rather than implementing features of a notification solution.

A programmable interface can provide one or a number of programmaticinterfaces such as an API, an event callback system, or applicationlogic processing system.

An API service is preferably a RESTful API but may alternatively be anysuitable API such as SOAP or custom protocol. The RESTful API worksaccording to an application layer request and response model. Anapplication layer request and response model may use an HTTP-basedprotocol (HTTP or HTTPS), SPDY, or any suitable application layerprotocol. Herein, HTTP may be used, but should not be interpreted asbeing limited to the HTTP protocol. HTTP requests (or any suitablerequest communication) to the communication platform preferably observethe principles of a RESTful design. RESTful is understood in thisdocument to describe a Representational State Transfer architecture asis known in the art. The RESTful HTTP requests are preferably stateless,thus each message communicated contains all necessary information forprocessing the request and generating a response. The API service caninclude various resources, which act as API endpoints that can act as amechanism for specifying requested information or requesting particularactions. The resources can be expressed as URI's or resource paths. TheRESTful API resources can additionally be responsive to different typesof HTTP methods such as GET, Put, POST and/or DELETE. Information abouta conversation is preferably stored and made accessible throughconversation API resources. Additionally participant API resources canbe created and made accessible. In addition to obtaining information,actions can be initiated through the API. For example, conversations maybe initiated or ended, participants can be added or removed, mediafeatures enabled or disabled, and/or any suitable action can betriggered. An API is preferably used to remotely interact withnotification primitives when setting up or sending a notification.

An event callback system can function to enable event triggers orwebhooks to be activated in response to different state changes orevents. Event callbacks can be account-customized conditions that resultin an event response when the condition is satisfied. An event callbackconfiguration can leverage internal information of the platform butwithout exposing the used internal information to an outside accountentity. When an event callback condition is satisfied, a configuredevent is executed. The event could be an internal operation, a callbackevent, or any suitable action. An internal operation can be a closedaction that may not be fully exposed to an account holder. A URIcallback event preferably includes making an application layer protocolcommunication to an external resource located at the specified URI. Acallback event may alternatively be configured by account for anysuitable event such as when a conversation starts, when a conversationends, when a property of a conversation satisfies some condition orthreshold, or any suitable condition.

Application logic processing may enable business logic to be definedthrough an executable document. Preferably, application logic isspecified through a structured document. In one variation, a markuplanguage document can be used in specifying a set of instructions andconditions that can be sequentially executed. The application logic maybe retrieved from a remote server. For example, the event callbacksystem may retrieve application logic from a URI, which is thenprocessed in association with a conversation. Application logic mayalternatively be stored within the communication platform.

In one variation, an event callback may return application logic forprocessing. In one implementation, a notification request may bespecified within the application logic.

The set of notification primitives preferably include a notificationservice resource, a participant binding resource, and a notificationresource. As described above the notification service resource functionsto setup the general configuration related to the enabled communicationchannels. The participant bindings are established to define howindividual endpoints of a communication channel can be reached. In somecases an endpoint is a phone number. In the case of proprietary pushnotification networks or over-the-top messaging platforms, deviceidentifiers or other suitable addressing tokens may be used. Thenotification resource can be used in requesting and reviewingnotifications send from an account.

Generally, a developer that wants to use the system will create anaccount on the multitenant communication platform 100. Then thedeveloper can setup a notification service resource for differentcommunication channels the developer plans on using. For SMS and MMSthis may involve importing a phone number or buying a phone number touse with the platform. For push notifications or third partycommunication channels, the developer may need to collect credentialsfrom the various communication channels (where the developer may havedistinct accounts for those services/platforms) and add thosecredentials to the notification service resource. Then the developer canonboard users. In one implementation, the developer may use an SDK,library, or API of the system when building an application or service.The developer can configure their own application logic to update theplatform and onboard users as participant binding resources. Thedeveloper may customize the way a participant binding is established bydetecting or asking a user for preferences in how notifications arereceived. The user preferences can be reflected in how bindings aresetup. Then when a notification needs to be sent, a request can be madeto the notification resource to send a notification. The configuredinformation is used in intelligently sending notifications to thetargeted endpoints.

The system and method of the preferred embodiment and variations thereofcan be embodied and/or implemented at least in part as a machineconfigured to receive a computer-readable medium storingcomputer-readable instructions. The instructions are preferably executedby computer-executable components preferably integrated with the mediaintelligence platform. The computer-readable medium can be stored on anysuitable computer-readable media such as RAMs, ROMs, flash memory,EEPROMs, optical devices (CD or DVD), hard drives, floppy drives, or anysuitable device. The computer-executable component is preferably ageneral or application specific processor, but any suitable dedicatedhardware or hardware/firmware combination device can alternatively oradditionally execute the instructions.

As a person skilled in the art will recognize from the previous detaileddescription and from the figures and claims, modifications and changescan be made to the preferred embodiments of the invention withoutdeparting from the scope of this invention defined in the followingclaims.

1. A method comprising: receiving, by a communication platform, arequest including an identifier for an external resource; transmitting asubsequent request to the external resource identified by theidentifier; receiving, from the external resource, data identifying amessage payload, a set of communication endpoints, and a set ofcommunication channel identifiers corresponding to the set ofcommunication endpoints; transmitting messages to communicationendpoints in the set of communication endpoints, each message includingthe message payload and being transmitted to a respective communicationendpoint using a communication channel identified by a communicationchannel identifier corresponding to the respective endpoint.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a second requestincluding a second identifier for a second external resource;transmitting a second subsequent request to the second external resourceidentified by the second identifier; receiving, from the second externalresource, data identifying a second message payload, a second set ofcommunication endpoints, and a second set of communication channelidentifiers corresponding to the second set of communication endpoints;transmitting messages to communication endpoints in the second set ofcommunication endpoints, each message including the second messagepayload and being transmitted based on the second set of communicationchannel identifiers.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the requestincludes a first tag from a set of tags, the first tag identifying thecommunication endpoints in the set of communication endpoints to whichthe message is to be transmitted.
 4. The method of claim 3, furthercomprising: identifying each communications endpoint in the set ofcommunication endpoints that is tagged with the first tag, yielding thecommunication endpoints in the set of communication endpoints to whichthe message is to be transmitted.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving a delivery status from at least one communicationto which the message was transmitted, the delivery status indicatingthat the message was received by the at least one endpoint.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein transmitting messages to communicationendpoints in the set of communication endpoints comprises transmittingan asynchronous message to a first communication endpoint in the set ofcommunication endpoints.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least onecommunication channel identified by a communication channel identifieris a proprietary service Application Programming Interface (API) channelto a device endpoint.
 8. A communication platform comprising: one ormore computer processors; and one or more computer-readable mediumsstoring instructions that, when executed by the one or more computerprocessors, cause the communication platform to perform operationscomprising: receiving a request including an identifier for an externalresource; transmitting a subsequent request to the external resourceidentified by the identifier; receiving, from the external resource,data identifying a message payload, a set of communication endpoints,and a set of communication channel identifiers corresponding to the setof communication endpoints; transmitting messages to communicationendpoints in the set of communication endpoints, each message includingthe message payload and being transmitted to a respective communicationendpoint using a communication channel identified by a communicationchannel identifier corresponding to the respective endpoint.
 9. Thecommunication platform of claim 8, the operations further comprising:receiving a second request including a second identifier for a secondexternal resource; transmitting a second subsequent request to thesecond external resource identified by the second identifier; receiving,from the second external resource, data identifying a second messagepayload, a second set of communication endpoints, and a second set ofcommunication channel identifiers corresponding to the second set ofcommunication endpoints; transmitting messages to communicationendpoints in the second set of communication endpoints, each messageincluding the second message payload and being transmitted based on thesecond set of communication channel identifiers.
 10. The communicationplatform of claim 8, wherein the request includes a first tag from a setof tags, the first tag identifying the communication endpoints in theset of communication endpoints to which the message is to betransmitted.
 11. The communication platform of claim 10, the operationsfurther comprising: identifying each communications endpoint in the setof communication endpoints that is tagged with the first tag, yieldingthe communication endpoints in the set of communication endpoints towhich the message is to be transmitted.
 12. The communication platformof claim 8, the operations further comprising: receiving a deliverystatus from at least one communication to which the message wastransmitted, the delivery status indicating that the message wasreceived by the at least one endpoint.
 13. The communication platform ofclaim 8, wherein transmitting messages to communication endpoints in theset of communication endpoints comprises transmitting an asynchronousmessage to a first communication endpoint in the set of communicationendpoints.
 14. The communication platform of claim 8, wherein at leastone communication channel identified by a communication channelidentifier is a proprietary service Application Programming Interface(API) channel to a device endpoint.
 15. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by oneor more computer processors of a communication platform, cause thecommunication platform to perform operations comprising: receiving arequest including an identifier for an external resource; transmitting asubsequent request to the external resource identified by theidentifier; receiving, from the external resource, data identifying amessage payload, a set of communication endpoints, and a set ofcommunication channel identifiers corresponding to the set ofcommunication endpoints; transmitting messages to communicationendpoints in the set of communication endpoints, each message includingthe message payload and being transmitted to a respective communicationendpoint using a communication channel identified by a communicationchannel identifier corresponding to the respective endpoint.
 16. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, the operationsfurther comprising: receiving a second request including a secondidentifier for a second external resource; transmitting a secondsubsequent request to the second external resource identified by thesecond identifier; receiving, from the second external resource, dataidentifying a second message payload, a second set of communicationendpoints, and a second set of communication channel identifierscorresponding to the second set of communication endpoints; transmittingmessages to communication endpoints in the second set of communicationendpoints, each message including the second message payload and beingtransmitted based on the second set of communication channelidentifiers.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim15, wherein the request includes a first tag from a set of tags, thefirst tag identifying the communication endpoints in the set ofcommunication endpoints to which the message is to be transmitted. 18.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, the operationsfurther comprising: identifying each communications endpoint in the setof communication endpoints that is tagged with the first tag, yieldingthe communication endpoints in the set of communication endpoints towhich the message is to be transmitted.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising:receiving a delivery status from at least one communication to which themessage was transmitted, the delivery status indicating that the messagewas received by the at least one endpoint.
 20. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein at least one communicationchannel identified by a communication channel identifier is aproprietary service Application Programming Interface (API) channel to adevice endpoint.